Traveling and the Importance of Easy Meals

     One of the only downsides about biking everywhere is the lack of long distance transportation. I can easily ride 10 miles on my bike to go somewhere, but that is about the upper limits of my abilities when time is taken into consideration. It's not too convenient beyond that. 

     The end of this past week and the beginning of the weekend were spent mostly in San Antonio with my lovely niece I had not seen in three years. She was able to catch up with her boyfriend and his family while Thomas and I were able to take in the sights of San Antonio. It truly is a beautiful city with a bit of old world charm. Because we had to be in town so early we were able to see it as few people get to, nearly empty.

     By the time we got home, we were all exhausted and wanted to do nothing more than go straight to bed. Dinner, however, needed to be dealt with. Two bags of 10oz frozen corn and a couple of potatoes to the rescue!

Corn Chowder with Roasted Potatoes
Serves 3

Ingredients
For the chowder:
2 - 10oz bags of frozen sweet corn
Handful of cilantro, washed, stemmed, and chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
Olive oil for frying
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp chili powder
2-3 cups water
1/4 - 1/2 cup soy milk
Salt, to taste

For the roasted potatoes:
2 or 3 small to medium potatoes
1/2 onion, chopped
Olive oil for coating
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne

Optional Toppings:
Shredded cheese
Diced green onions
Sour cream
Diced cilantro

Method
First... Preheat your oven to 350*F while you prep the potatoes by washing them well, then dicing into bite sized pieces. Nothing fancy here, just keep them a uniform size. Toss together in a bowl with the diced onion, coat with the olive oil, then add the salt and cayenne before mixing well. Toss the potatoes in the oven on a foiled or parchment-lined baking sheet for around 25 minutes or until fork tender.

Then... While the potatoes are baking, you'll make the corn chowder. Start by heating oil in a soup pot and adding the onions to fry for around 5-6 minutes. Add the salt and other dry seasonings and mix well. Add the frozen corn and enough water to cover before bringing to a simmer. Carefully transfer around 1/2 of soup contents to a blender and blend, using the remaining water for easy blending. Return contents of blender to soup pot, add cilantro, and continue simmering. After 10 minutes of additional simmering, add the milk and turn heat off.

Finally... Remove the potatoes from oven. Ladle soup into bowls, top with roasted potatoes and any optional toppings desired.

     Because this recipe is so basic, there are many ways that you could make it your own. Try adding some salsa or chili garlic paste to the blender for a spicier touch, a can of chopped tomatoes with green peppers, or use a can of black beans instead of the second bag of corn for a slightly different soup. Make it yours!
- Patricia

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Vegan & Gluten Free Meal Plan for 19 July – 24 July

     I try to create a meal plan each week.

     This is much easier said than done, however. Between the boyfriend and I, there is no dairy, egg, or gluten in 99% of what we eat for dinner. We also avoid processed foods and aim to only eat real foods or prepared dishes that only incorporate real, whole foods in them. We lean towards organic when we can to help avoid GMOs and for the less environmental impact their conventionally grown counterparts. He doesn't like tofu or pasta all that much, either, and we rarely eat out – like five times a year. We do this for about $80 to $120 each week and manage to get plenty to eat for dinner, lunches, breakfasts, snacks, coffee, and juice.

     When Friday night rolls around, it means meal planning night. The boyfriend usually has the guys over for game night on Fridays and I usually get a bit of time to myself to read or piddle around on the internet. Nothing too serious gets done as the noise level is not conducive to studying or creating, but it is an enjoyable time for me. Almost forces me to just veg out for a bit, something I do not like to do normally. Early Saturday mornings or late evenings are usually our time to ride down to the farmers market and grocery store, so it is imperative that I meal plan on Friday night or at least before we go.

     When meal planning does not occur, the grocery store trip is a bit disorganized and we often buy things that we do not use right away. No meal plan also means me stressing out when it comes time to start making dinner during the week. Me and stress do not go well together. No meal plan also means tater-tot tacos for two or three days a week, lots of chips, salsa, and guacamole, and random vegetable risotto.

     Meal planning is the way to go, folks. Keep your sanity and help keep your dinner time as stress free as possible. You're making food to nourish your body with and the better that you feel about what you're making and how you're making it, the better the dish will be for you and your dinner mates to enjoy. This being said, here is the meal plan for this coming week:

Meals:
Potato and Onion Soup
Burgers with Lemon Pepper Quinoa
Chili & Cornbread
Stir Fry
Tacos
Spaghetti & Garlic Bread with Salads

Grocery List:
Curry Paste
Onions x3
Chips Lemon x1
Salsa
Lettuce
Rice Noodles
Cabbage & Parsley (for the rabbit)
Chili Mix
Diced Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cereal
Potatoes ~ 1.5lbs
Ice Cream
Daiya - White
Burgers (We buy Sunshine, check them out – best veg burgers you can find, hands down!)
Pasta Sauce
GF Bread
GF Spaghetti
Soups for Work Lunches
Bell Pepper x1
Bread
Flavored Salt (almost out!)

     I will be doing an ongoing series of posts about these meal plans as I create them, but I will also be posting older meal plans that I have created as well. While I have been meal planning regularly for about eight months now, I only begin to keep track of them after I realized that there were almost no vegan, vegetarian, or gluten free meal plans available that I really could use and enjoy. Too much crispy tofu and grilled vegetables. Or if they were semi do-able for me, like the one over at Vegan Health, they were too short at only three days. Regardless, I hope that this makes it a bit easier for someone out there searching for a decent veg friendly and low allergy meal plans that aren't too boring.

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Vegan & Gluten Free Meal Plan for 16 May - 22 May

     Here's an old week's meal plan. We spent about $83 at Whole Foods. That's really good for a week's worth of organic, whole foods for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. We also ate a lot of potatos this week. A lot.

Meals:
Burgers w/ Quinoa & lemon pepper broccoli
Canned Indian Food
Roasted vegetable pasta w/ Potato wedges
Risotto & Polenta
Potato & Leek Soup
Potato, bean, and onion curry
Potato & Onion Tacos

Grocery List
Sunshine Burgers
Yellow Onions (2)
Zucchini (2)
99c herbs (I got lemon thyme)
Leeks
Toaster pastries
Poultry seasoning
Lunch for work (soups & rolls)
Salad dressing
Tortillas
Baking potato (1)

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Indian Inspired Spinach and Red Lentils

      One of my favorite ingredients to cook with when I have no clue what to make for dinner is red lentils. They're flatter than normal lentils, cook fairly quick making, and they go really well with just about anything else making them perfect for using up the rest of whatever you have. Just like in this instance where I threw in the remainder of various leftovers into this. It turned into a tasty and satisfying dinner for me and the boyfriend.


Indian Inspired Spinach and Red Lentils

1 C Chopped Spinach
½ C Red Lentils
3 Shallots
2 tsp Butter (I used Earth Balance)
1 C Vegetable Broth
½ C Water
Salt, Cumin, Coriander and Turmeric to taste

      Heat skillet over medium high heat and saute shallots until softened and slightly browned. Add lentils and stir until lentils are evenly coated in oil then add liquids and stir well. Add spices plus salt and spinach and let cook until most of the water is gone. Taste to see if anything needs to be adjusted and continue cooking until lentils are soft – about 15 minutes total. Serves 2.

      Also, I just got my Vegetarian Times subscription in my mailbox yesterday evening and was thrilled to see it. I've been on a cupcake baking binge recently and little real food cooking has gone on (like cupcakes aren't real food?), but this issue gave me tons of new ideas to help get me back in the mood for real food again. Really, there is nothing wrong with two days of cupcakes.

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Creamy Pasta Dinner

Just a quick post this evening to give you an equally quick recipe to make tonight. Yesterday's post where I raved on and on about Sabra's Hummus, I said that I would give you a great idea to use up the rest of the hummus once all the carrot sticks and chips in the house are gone. Hope you enjoy this soon, it's well worth it!



Ever since I stopped eating dairy I've missed pasta with cheese sauce of any kind and have tried various replacements for this craving. I tried doing the nutritional yeast route, but I purchased it from the bulk section of Whole Foods and it was contaminated from being near the flours and I would break out in rashes any time I ate a dish with the nutritional yeast included. I've also tried those almost unpalatable soy cheeses that turn gritty once they begin to cool down on the plate, but one my absolute favorite way to get that cheese fix I'm looking for is to add about one to two tablespoons of hummus right before I serve the pasta. It sounds so simple, but the creamy texture of hummus lends itself nicely to giving the pasta that cheesy texture I'm looking for.


Creamy Pasta Dinner

2 C cooked pasta shells (I use Tinkyada)
1 Tbs butter
1 clove garlic
1-2 Tbs Hummus
Italian Seasonings of choice
olives
cherry tomatoes

Once you have boiled your pasta, set it in a culinder to drain while you use the pot the pasta was boiled in to get your 'sauce' ready. Turn the heat off on your stove top and place the pot back on the burner. Add the butter and garlic to the bottom of the pan to melt and throw in the hummus once the butter is good and melted. Toss the pasta back in the pan and stir until all the shells are coated evenly. Sprinkle on any seasonings you might want and add five or six olives and a couple cherry tomatoes for good measure. Serve and enjoy!

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